Sylpheed FAQ: Sylpheed FAQ - Installation and Configuration

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## 2. Sylpheed FAQ - Installation and Configuration

## 2.1 Q01 What does it take to compile Sylpheed?

A. Any POSIX compliant UNIX or similar OS eg. Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris GTK+ 1.2.6 or later A recent ANSI C compiler (gcc 2.7.2.3 should also work) Note: it is reported that Sun C will not compile Sylpheed. Optionally:

- Imlib or gdk-pixbuf (for built-in image view)
- libcompface (for X-Face)
- libjconv (for I18N)
- GPGME (for GnuPG)
- the equivalent of GTK+-devel and Xfree86-devel.

Otherwise ./configure will fail.

## 2.2 Q02 How do I set up Sylpheed?

A. When you run Sylpheed for the first time, it will ask you where you want to store your mailboxes. The default is <homedir>/Mail. You can change this to anything you like as long as it is a valid directory name.

Please note: When Sylpheed is executed for the first time, it automatically creates the configuration files under $HOME/.sylpheed/, and asks you the location of mailbox. The default is $HOME/Mail. If some files which are non-MH format already exist on the directory, you will have to specify another location.

## 2.3 Q03 How do I set up an account?

A. After loading Sylpheed for the first time, you can add an e-mail account by clicking the "Configuration" menu. Select the option "Create new account" and fill in the appropriate fields.

## 2.4 Q04 How many accounts can I set up in Sylpheed?

A. The number is unlimited. The limit is reached when your computer stops responding.

## 2.5 Q05 Why does Sylpheed not delete my mails when I press "delete"? I set a filter, and Sylpheed does not filter. I moved a mail to a different mailbox and it did not move.

A. You have to click the "execute" button. The other solution: in the configuration settings (common preferences > interface tab) you have to check the "execute commands immediately" box.

## 2.6 Q06 Can I set up special addresses/ports for my mailserver / newsserver?

A. Yes, you can. In the configuration per account you can specify the exact port addresses you want to use.

## 2.7 Q07 Does Sylpheed have options for threading messages?

A. Yes. You can switch it on and off in the Summary Menu, just select "Thread View" or press Ctrl+T.

## 2.8 Q08 Can I create multiple levels of subfolders to store mail?

A. Absolutely. This is no problem.

## 2.9 Q09 Why isn't Sylpheed sending my mail out?

A. You need to create at least one account in order to send. (This is a wonderful gotcha on LAN installs with only a local mailbox feed).

## 2.10 Q10 How do I apply a patch after downloading it?

A. Copy patch to sylpheed directory Apply the patch:

`% patch -p0 < some.patch`

Or, if it's gzipped:

`% gzip -dc some.patch.gz | patch -p0`

Run `./autogen.sh`, remove the generated `/config.cache` file (unless you want to install in prefix `/usr/local`). Run `./configure` with the appropriate options and then `make`. (Text as found on the Sylpheed patches page.)

## 2.11 Q11 How do I compile in support for compface pictures?

A. You have to have a package called `libcompface` installed, so this is available for compiling into Sylpheed.

## 2.12 Q12 How do I make my own compface image?

A. The faces package contains a program called xbm2ikon script, which converts a 48x48 xbm to the format suitable for compface. Thanks to Jeff Dairiki, you can have a complete online course in this. Visit this page for the details.

## 2.13 Q13 How can I tell my browser/newsclient/other program to use Sylpheed as e-mail program?

A. In the settings part of the program, write `sylpheed --compose`

## 2.14 Q14 How do I enable GPG support in Sylpheed?

A. When compiling Sylpheed, make sure you add `--enable-gpgme` in the ./configure command. When that completes successfully, there is a "privacy" section in the Common preferences.

## 2.15 Q15 Mutt does not recognize Sylpheed's MH structure

A. For this to work you need to use the "touch" command in every MH folder. "touch" the file .xmhcache and Mutt should do just fine.

## 2.16 Q16 Viewing a GIF file within Sylpheed causes a segmentation fault.

A. In case this happens, you can easily fix that by adding the following to /etc/mime.types:

`image/gif gif`

## 2.17 Q17 How can I make Sylpheed notify me when new mail arrives?

A. For this you can do several things:

* Look at the Sylpheed patch page at Teledix.net for a new mail patch.

* Download Gkrellm or a similar program that is able to notify you of new incoming mail. Gkrellm is available at the Gkrellm page

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